Does the Church Thrive under Persecution?

Persecution is alive and well in the modern world. For Christians in Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, and other places around the world, persecution is a very real and present danger.

When I hear Christians in the west talk about persecution, though, I’m struck by how often I hear something like the following:

No one has ever stopped the church through persecution. Indeed, whenever the world persecutes the church, it just grows even more. Look at the early church. The Romans tried to persecute it out of existence, yet it spread the gospel throughout the entire empire. And, more recently, the church in China blossomed during the twentieth century despite tremendous persecution.

Unlike the lazy and complacent Christianity that develops in “safe” countries, persecution fosters a robust Christianity, confident of its faith and bold in its proclamation. The church thrives under persecution.

And I understand where that sentiment is coming from. Christians are optimists. In general, we have a deep and abiding sense that God is in control and that he’ll make sure everything works out his people in the end. Thus, even when we hear that things are going badly for Christians in some part of the world, we’re comforted by the fact that God is still at work and that he can do amazing things in even the most difficult circumstances.

So we take a theological conviction (God is in control), combine it with some historical examples (the church in China), and come up with a pretty impressive conclusion (the church thrives under persecution). But there’s one little problem: it’s not true. Or, at least, it’s not true as it is usually stated. Here’s why.

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Comments

I wonder if the difference between the success of the 1st century church and say the church among the Berbers is simply this, the 1st century church had a far closer and stronger affinity for Christ and the persecution to them actually increased the validation of their faith( they expected it and should have since they had been warned of it by Christ Himself and elsewhere, they may have lost their faith if they had not experienced persecution).

Whereas some of we latter day believers don’t really accept the biblical narrative seriously. It’s in between myth and reality to us and under pressure, it’s myth.

No question that the quality of one’s faith really comes out in the midst of persecution. I think that’s partly why many western Christians wonder if their faith is really sincere since it’s never been tested in this way. But I wouldn’t attribute this merely to the fact that early Christians lived closer (historically) to the time of Christ. The early church is actually full of stories of people who fell away in the face of persecution. We prefer to focus on the stories of the martyrs, of course, but that doesn’t change the fact that many more chose a different route.